Wednesday, July 22, 2009

I Want Neon Signs

I am poor. Not the 'haha, I'm so broke, but what the hell I'll spend money on this anyway' kind of poor. More like the 'oh, hm, maybe I should push it a few more days before I go the grocery store' version of poor. Seriously.Speaking of the grocery store, the nice thing about Kentucky is the milk is really cheap for some reason. Everything else is not. I switched to the generic/walmart version of mac n' cheese because its 64 cent price tag is soothing to my soul, as compared to its counterpart which is almost as much as the milk I need to mix with it. I wish I weren't eating food like a 5 year old (mac n cheese, hot dogs, cheap party pizzas - all items you can get for 1.50 or less), but I guess you have to do what is neccessary to get by sometimes. It just is such a bummer that good, healthy, non-proccessed food is so expensive. I suppose it isn't such a big deal -- I don't know what I would make if I had the supplies. I can bake, but I'm not much of a cook. I don't even know what you're supposed to make or have recipes for anything. Especially when you're only cooking for one.

Back to the point: I have no money. I recently moved to this new city and had the intention of getting a job. Haha, I'm so funny. I thought that would be easy. Wrong. Very, very wrong. I was turned down for a job that related to my education because I was "over-qualified." However, I was also turned down from a retail job because they were looking for an individual with stronger retail experience. So basically, I'm screwed because I did too much in college that gave me experience for my goal career and screwed because I didn't spend my time working a crappy job.So at this point, I'm unemployed. My mind can't help but to drift back to those first years as a social work major and all of the temporary assistance options that are available to those in poverty. How easy it would be to collect an unemployment check. I can't bring myself to do that though, for many reasons. So for now, I'm going to stay poor.

The big picture to this self-proclaimed state of poverty rant is that universities should not allow the option to acquire a worthless degree. You want to study painting? Awesome, go take some art classes. You want to refine your musical skills? Great, go get some instruction. You want to study human behavior? Cool, go read these books and journal articles. These should not be majors. I understand that one should be able to pursue any interest they like. I completely support that. I no longer believe it is a good idea to have these as "majors" at a university. My bachelor's degree is a few steps up from worthless. I have all this great knowledge about psychology, but there is very little I can do with it, and an even fewer amount of currently available opportunities. I know it was my choice to pursue this path, but I think someone should place neon yellow signs in front of students' faces informing them of the harsh truths. Not black and white or verbal mentions. Neon. I just don't think an institution should get away with exchanging $40,000 with a certificate that doesn't really allow you to do much more than what a secretary can do. I don't know what the answer is for every major that tends to lead to nowhere, but I do think psychology should have an option like nursing, dental, or pharmacy schools. Let me start working toward my doctorate after 2 years, not all 4.

Alas, I will keep applying to retail stores and the occasional mental health position if one should arise, and I will keep being poor. But you better believe that if I ever find myself teaching at a university many years from now, I will be straight up with my students.